How I finally got my 7 BTC back from the crypto "exchange" HitBTC

This post is not an advice. If someone finds himself in a similar situation to the one described here, he should react based upon his own judgement. I only describe here what happened to me and what I did. 

I got my money back, after 5 months, from an unknown organization (no phone number, no personal details about anyone working there) calling itself "HitBTC" (maybe because they Hit their clients/victims by keeping their deposited BTC to themselves).

It took 5 months. From April to September (2018, for future reference). From the moment I easily and conveniently deposited my money on their inviting site, traded it and tried to withdraw (after a prior, successful testing of withdrawal for tiny sums) until they finally allowed me (only after legal threats, as I will describe) to get my money back. 

In the former post I described the "way of suffering" I went through. As I wrote there, I quickly discovered that giving them (HitBTC) all their demands doesn't work. After less than a month from my withdrawal request they already received from me a picture of my passport, a picture of me near a screen, and a comprehensive report of my holdings and transactions. They got it by writing "kindly" all the time and threatening that, unless the "Anti-money Laundering - Know Your Customer" policy is fulfilled - I won't get my 7 BTC back. Very kindly they did so. When I supplied the identity demands - they demanded transaction screenshots and receipts. And when I delivered those (the BTC were bought in a decent, regulated business) - they began to repeat these demands over and over again, waiting for me to despair and give up. The phrase "we KINDLY ask you to provide us with full-display screenshots of your deposit and withdrawal history on your wallets" was cut and pasted over and over again. It took many days until they replied each time. Replied without helping, without guiding, without anything. Just copy-pasting the same line. So much money which belong to me (their client) was held hostage by them - and yet there was zero help, zero care. But they were VERY kind ("we kindly ask you to"...).

I have to be clear here. If they're so concerned about the above aml/kyc policy - they should require the identity and history details BEFORE ACCEPTING PEOPLE'S MONEY. BEFORE HOLDING PEOPLE'S HARD EARNED MONEY HOSTAGE. They can also IMMEDIATELY RETURN QUESTIONABLE FUNDS BACK TO THE SENDER. A decent company would do just that. But of course HitBTC don't do that. On their site, they promise (with big shiny letters) to "START TRADING NOW" - and indeed supply. The DEPOSIT button works great. It's when you want to WITHDRAW your money back that their "aml/kyc concern" begins. How delightfully convenient for them.

I think that every judge in a court of law will easily see that this pattern is not the way of a decent company. And whoever is behind HitBTC knows that. THEY'RE DISHONEST. Probably deliberately, probably as part of their "business" model.

Eventually, I contacted a lawyer from Hong Kong, which is the location of a postal address they claim belongs to them (don't bother asking them for a phone number - you won't get it). He sent them a legal warning. After that, more than two quiet weeks passed by. And then, after almost five months of trying to despair me, they suddenly switched their tune and "happily" reactivated my account (I suspect they waited a while after receiving the letter to make their attitude change seem not related to it).

That's the story. I'm telling it here so that other people will also be aware of HitBTC, and avoid having any contact with this "exchange". Also, other people in a similar situation to mine should know that fighting this organization is not hopeless.